Guilty of being poor

Dissidentvoice ^ | 4/25/09 | Eric Ruder

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The jailers of the 19th century — even in the pre-Civil War South — largely abandoned the practice of imprisoning people for falling into debt as counterproductive and ultimately barbaric. In the 1970s and ’80s, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that incarcerating people who can’t pay fines because of poverty violates the U.S. Constitution.

Apparently, though, some states and county jails never got the memo. Welcome to the debtors’ prisons of the 21st century.

“Edwina Nowlin, a poor Michigan resident, was ordered to reimburse a juvenile detention center $104 a month for holding her 16-year-old son,” the New York Times wrote in an editorial.

“When she explained to the court that she could not afford to pay, Ms. Nowlin was sent to prison. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which helped get her out last week after she spent 28 days behind bars, says it is seeing more people being sent to jail because they cannot make various court-ordered payments. That is both barbaric and unconstitutional.”

The details of Nowlin’s case are even more alarming than the Times editorial suggests. Not only was Nowlin under orders to pay a fine stemming from someone else’s actions, but she had been laid off from work and lost her home at the time she was ordered to “reimburse” the county for her son’s detention.

Despite her inability to pay, she was held in contempt of court and ordered to serve a 30-day sentence. On March 6, three days after she was incarcerated, she was released for one day to work. She also picked up her paycheck, in the amount of $178.53. This, she thought, could be used to pay the $104, and she would be released from jail.

But when she got back to the jail, the sheriff told her to sign her check over to the county — to pay $120 for her own room and board, and $22 for a drug test and booking fee.

Even more absurd, Nowlin requested but was denied a court-appointed lawyer. So because she was too poor to afford a lawyer and denied her constitutional right to have the court provide one for her, she couldn’t fight the contempt charge that stemmed from her poverty. And her contempt conviction only added to her poverty, as the fines and fees she was obligated to pay now multiplied.

“Like many people in these desperate economic times, Ms. Nowlin was laid off from work, lost her home and is destitute,” said Michael Steinberg, legal director of the Michigan ACLU. “Jailing her because of her poverty is not only unconstitutional, it’s unconscionable and a shameful waste of resources. It is not a crime to be poor in this country, and the government must stop resurrecting debtor’s prisons from the dustbin of history.”

Michigan isn’t the only place where you can be imprisoned for the crime of involuntary poverty. The same Catch-22 ensnares poor defendants daily in courtrooms across the country.

In 2006, the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) filed a suit on behalf of Ora Lee Hurley, who couldn’t get out of prison until she had enough money to pay a $705 fine. But she couldn’t pay the fine because she had to pay the Georgia Department of Corrections $600 a month for room and board, and spend $76 a month on public transportation, laundry and food.

She was released five days a week to work at the K&K Soul Food restaurant, where she earned $6.50 an hour, which netted her about $700 a month after taxes. Hurley was trapped in prison for eight months beyond her initial 120-day sentence until the Southern Center intervened. Over the course of her incarceration, she earned about $7,000, but she never had enough at one time to pay off her $705 fine.

“This is a situation where if this woman was able to write a check for the amount of the fine, she would be out of there,” Sarah Geraghty, a SCHR lawyer, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution while Hurley was still imprisoned. “And because she can’t, she’s still in custody. It’s as simple as that.”

Georgia also lets for-profit probation companies prey on people too poor to pay their traffic violations and court fees. According to a 2008 SCHR report entitled “Profiting from the poor”:

In courts around Georgia, people who are charged with misdemeanors and cannot pay their fines that day in court are placed on probation under the supervision of private, for-profit companies until they pay off their fines. On probation, they must pay these companies substantial monthly “supervision fees” that may double or triple the amount that a person of means would pay for the same offense.

For example, a person of means may pay $200 for a traffic ticket on the day of court and be done with it, while a person too poor to pay that day is placed on probation and ends up paying $500 or more for the same offense.

The privatization of misdemeanor probation has placed unprecedented law enforcement authority in the hands of for-profit companies that act essentially as collection agencies. These companies, focused on profit rather than public safety or rehabilitation, are not designed to supervise people or connect them to services and jobs. Rather, they charge exorbitant monthly fees and use the threat of imprisonment and a variety of bullying tactics to squeeze money out of the men and women under their supervision.

For too many poor people convicted of misdemeanors, our state is not living up to the constitutional promise of equal justice under law.

In Gulfport, Miss., the municipal court started a “fine collection task force” to crack down on people who owed fees for misdemeanors. According to the SCHR Web site:

The task force trolled through predominantly African American neighborhoods, rounding up people who had outstanding court fines. After arresting and jailing them, the City of Gulfport processed these people through a court proceeding at which no defense attorney was present or even offered.

Many people were jailed for months after hearings lasting just seconds. While the city collected money, it also packed the jail with hundreds of people who couldn’t pay, including people who were sick, physically disabled and/or limited by mental disabilities.

The disregard of the justice system for the rights of poor people to equal protection and due process is cause for outrage. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise in an era when the government spends billions bailing out banks while letting foreclosures and unemployment ruin the lives of working people.

We need to build a movement, like the working-class struggles of the 1930s, that can demand an end to the inhuman practice of incarcerating people for no other crime than finding themselves at the bottom of the social ladder.

[mainestategop]

Okay, I'm done cleaning up the vomit from my keyboard but I think mr. Ruder should realize that most of the places that are denying defense attorneys are run by Democrats and that a Democrat is the one shilling bailouts to the banks.

I said it before on another forum I'll say it again. THe Democrats want to shoot down one constitutional amendment, IE: the 2nd amendment, they will go after all the other ones in addition to that.

Thanks a whole lot Obama.

[mamelukesabre]

In my opinion, the problem comes about when a person feels all powerful. When on party appears to lose all power, the other party starts getting wierd. that wierdness usually results in the other party making a comeback...EN FORCE. The examples where it doesn’t, is like when the nazis took over germany.

[Bernard]

The task force trolled through predominantly African American neighborhoods, rounding up people who had outstanding court fines.

According to an old fishing magazine I use to read, 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. I'll bet the poverty demographics had more to do with outstanding court fines than the race of the people in the neighborhood, but that would not fit into the author's agenda.

But, a judge in McHenry County, Illinois, recently threw some guy in jail because he did not pay his lawyer's fee. Not exactly a poor neighborhood., but I guess the judge wanted to prove a point. The idea of lawyers taking care of each other is pretty sad, but this case was blatant.

[Vigilanteman]

These are over the top anecdotes and the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center are on the right side for a change. More common, however, are the court ordered mandates for men to fork over alimony and child support for far more than they can reasonable afford or pay. A boyhood friend of mine is in this situation and has disappeared and apparently changed his identity. I still get calls from time to time asking about his whereabouts. The system left him with no alternative.

[ALPAPilot]

they will go after all the other ones

There mostly gone already:

Here's a short list I posted the other day,

1. Free speech - campaign finance reform

2 Gun rights - gun control

3. I actually wouldn’t mind having soldiers at the house, though to be fair they’ve never made me.

4. Search and Seizure - Income tax returns, IRS and Swiss bank accounts

5. Compensation - they aren’t planning to pay you for confiscated guns.

[CurlyDave]

In 2006, the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) filed a suit on behalf of Ora Lee Hurley, who couldn’t get out of prison until she had enough money to pay a $705 fine.

Now I have seen ads for "exotic dancers" with that name, Anyone smell a scam?

[kcvl]

Goebel set the original amount of $104 a month to be paid by Nowlin was based upon financial information provided by Nowlin to the Delta County Friend of the Court. Staff members in that office, using state child support guidelines, presented the $104 per month as being a reasonable amount she would be able to pay.

Nowlin contacted the ACLU of Michigan, according to ACLU legal director Michael Steinberg, after her request for a court-appointed attorney was denied by Goebel during the March 3 hearing.

The $104 is just a partial payment. The state incurs a cost of $308.39 per day for treating a juvenile at its facility in Escanaba. The monthly cost incurred for one juvenile held at the facility for one month is $ 9,560.

"Here is a woman who was laid off in December, and later, working part-time for $7.90 an hour, in addition to working odd jobs to make ends meet," he said.

Numinen said Nowlin had provided the court with a financial affidavit indicating she had been working part-time in March.

"When filing the affidavit, she may have overstated the amount she was being paid per hour. However, there was a note attached to the affidavit indicating that was what she thought she was being paid," said Numinen.

After hearing Nowlin's testimony, Goebel said the court had extensive involvement with Nowlin and her son, and several attempts had been made by the court to prevent her 15-year old son from ending up at Bay Pines.

According to Goebel, Nowlin's son had an extensive juvenile criminal record with charges ranging from assault and battery to second degree criminal sexual conduct.

"When your son was first placed in juvenile diversion, there was a notion indicating you were concerned about your son heading down the wrong path."

Goebel added a notation in the file indicated Nowlin would be present for all appointments and would be involved fully with the juvenile diversion program along with her son.

"The last appointment which you attended, according to our records, was Oct. 12, 2008," said Goebel.

More Here

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the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center are on the right side for a change.

Very rarely they are but when they are it makes a big difference. If it were not for some of these groups, government would be more out of control than ever and we would already have been a dictatorship decades ago.

[kcvl]

According to Delta County Sheriff Gary Ballweg, Nowlin is allowed work release privileges.

[denydenydeny]

Somethow the media can’t find it in their hearts to interest themselves in this story.

They are too busy investigating stories of foreclosures and “corporate greed.”

[mainestategop]

According to Delta County Sheriff Gary Ballweg, Nowlin is allowed work release privileges.

Sometimes they add to the debt for things like room and board. If it were not for being incarcerated, she could pay that off immediately. Instead she's being kept in custody. It is unfair and unconstitutional. Its costly not only to the victims but the taxpayers as well.

[kcvl]

Goebel set the original amount of $104 a month to be paid by Nowlin was based upon financial information provided by Nowlin to the Delta County Friend of the Court. Staff members in that office, using state child support guidelines, presented the $104 per month as being a reasonable amount she would be able to pay.

[kcvl]

Escanaba resident, Edwina Nowlin, says she had been laid off from work and had practically no money.

[kcvl]

How about she keeps her son off the streets for “assault and battery to second degree criminal sexual conduct”?!

“the court had extensive involvement with Nowlin and her son, and several attempts had been made by the court to prevent her 15-year old son from ending up at Bay Pines”

[Enigo54]

AND had not attended her meetings WITH her son since 2008...LOL....due to the fact I know this woman, its nice to know God pounds his nails.

[mainestategop]

Deuteronomy 15 The Year for Canceling Debts 1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.

Proverbs 22:26 Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;

Habbakuk 2:6-8

6 "Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, " 'Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?' 7 Will not your debtors [a] suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim. 8 Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man's blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them

Matthew 18:21-35

21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[f] 23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[g] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' 30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Exodus 23:5-7 (New International Version) 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it. 6 "Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.

Psalm 47:14,15 14 The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. 15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

Psalm 82:2-4

"How long will you [a] defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

[Reeses]

It costs a lot more than $104/month to get that round. Most poor people are obese. It's really a profound change that's never happened before in history.

[kcvl]

Do you think people will read your post if you make them bolder?! Kind of ‘in your face’ don’t you think?!

[kcvl]

You know her? Is this typical of her to call the ACLU?

[kcvl]

Too bad she didn’t spend that much energy keeping her FIFTEEN YEAR OLD SON off the streets!